“That really affected me, because I feel my forte is to get them to play as a team,” Lemaire said. “I was frustrated because I felt I’m not doing my job. This is my job to get them to play good, make my boss happy. I didn’t have that satisfaction.”

Apparently Lemaire — who has 11 Stanley Cup rings (won as a player, as a member of a front office and as a coach in both Montreal and New Jersey) — and Wild President and GM Doug Risebrough, who was Lemaire’s teammate in Montreal, came to an agreement on what steps the team needs to take to address Jacques’ concerns.

“I have to say it’s one of the best meetings I had with Doug since I’ve been here,” Lemaire said. “Because I need him to reinforce, maybe, what I was thinking.”

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